The Device
resume with several Spade Sister guards standing both on the stage in the background of their Conference Building and near Spirit, Shane, Nadine, Syvillian, Amber, and Animo, the last of which should have been removed by the Perfectation. As Animo's status outside of a Spade jail cell is threatened for his infiltration, Shane demands an answer to the pressing question on the high-ranking Spades' minds. Dr. Animo: "How have I survived," you ask. Truly, I do not understand what has occurred since I left. Shane: Since you...left? Dr. Animo: Yes. A little over a month ago, I decided that I was not benefiting from living it up here on Earth. Every innocent experiment I conduct is destroyed by that destructive little Tennyson boy...the Tennyson boy that in my absence apparently did what I had only hoped to do myself, and what several aliens have all failed at doing for years. Shane: Animo, I don't need to know what Ben did. *All of us* in this room know pretty well what happened. I--we--want to know where you went a month ago. Dr. Animo: To a marvelous realm nothing like this one. No planet in this dimension can compare to-- Syvillian: Cut the dramatics and tell us what we need to know. We don't need your life story. Dr. Animo: The Null Void. A truly stunning destination, child. Syvillian: I am no child; I am the rightful h-- Amber: Shut it, Sssyv. What did you do in the Null Void? You can't jussst have sssurvived because you were there. Dr. Animo: I befriended some of the locals, such as an alien landowner. Poor thing had his farm go stale, and now his only source of food was from another world. Amber: There's more, I'm certain. Dr. Animo: Yes. That putrid man turned out to be some kind of wealthy dealer, holding all of his riches for himself and living alone in his very own lofty abode on the weekends. One day after I found out his secret, he decided to have me along for a deal with a new acquaintance, knowing my technological expertise and hoping I could create some sort of robotic guardian. So I *borrowed* some gorillas from Earth and mounted mind-controlling devices to their necks; they are far superior to any robot. But that deal he was going to do, the other guy never showed up, and he thought since *I* was along for once that I'd done something. He showed me some new ability he had, to grow some weird spikes on his back like some sort of porcupine, then he tried to launch them at me. I left him to fight my gorillas but fled with one of them. I found a rock far from where he lived, and there I realized that the Null Void was a prison, not just some paradise. Shane: It took ya that long, huh? I heard you were stupid, but come-- Dr. Animo: DOCTOR ALOYSIUS JAMES ANIMO IS FAR FROM IDIOTIC, CHILD. Shane: Well, obviously the one screaming to a bunch of other kids is a child, and a dumb one at that. Dr. Animo: You're testing my patience, boy. I gave you my answer, I told you all that happened, let me go now. Amber: That'sss not happening. Spirit: Correct. Mr. Animo,-- Dr. Animo: *DOCTOR* Animo! Spirit: Whatever, crazy; you're going into a Spade jail. Nadine, knock him out of that suit. Nadine: With pleasure. Dr. Animo's head spins in the tank holding what remains of his fleshy body, watching as a human Nadine jumps toward him and transforms into Nerve mid-air, a kick arriving at his tank quickly. She hits it, but there is no damage to hit and she simply sent back down onto the ground after her attempt. Spirit: Animo, yield, now. You do not want to tempt us. Amber: You reeeally don't, Doctor. Dr. Animo: I would love to see what one of you children is capable of doing. Spirit rushes up to Animo, transforming swiftly into her glowing alien form as she approaches. She touches the collar that keeps Animo's tank attached to the gorilla body, and after seconds of holding, a blue ring surrounds it. She then sets the tank to fly up out of its holder and down onto the ground, robotic tendrils below the detached tank squirming as Animo tries to move. Spirit (her ominous voice returning, Shane suspiciously rushing to Animo's fallen animal body in the background): The Spade Sisters are not a force to be reckoned with. Dr. Animo: I cannot feel my body! Please, I want to stay connected! Spirit: No, Animo, and if you die for it, that'll be on you for coming in here. As Spirit, Amber, and Syvillian persist in their quarrel with Animo, Nadine as Nerve moves over to Shane who is bent down behind Animo's makeshift body. Nadine (Nerve, whispering): Shane, what are you doing? Shane (whispering): I noticed something on the back of Animo's suit when he fell, a little spark. Nadine (Nerve): It's a robot body, isn't it? Shane: Not really. Judging by those connectors under his life-support tank and what's on that collar, all he needs are those things and he's got full control of the body -- no wires needed. Basically, anything below the collar could be used as a gorilla if you were to attach a head and it wasn't dead from the blood loss or something already. Nadine (Nerve): Uhh...interesting? Shane: Yes, but not as great as (he raises his hand from shuffling through the fur on the gorilla's back, a cylindrical device with Galvanic Mechamorph patterns and what appears to be the Galvan Peace Symbol atop it) this. He jumps onto his feet and steps over to Spirit. Spirit, Emily, I need you to stop what you're doing. Spirit: What, why? Shane: I've found this. Shane hands her the device, which her eyes blow up at. In a second she is back in her human form, snatching the device from her hand and running over to Animo's tank. Grabbing his tank by the tendrils and holding it upside-down, she speaks to him. Spirit: Explain this, now. Animo: Explain wh--Where did you get that? Spirit's hand enters its alien form, beginning to radiate enough energy to start burning the only (artificial) limbs the Animo has left. Spirit (an echo akin to that of an enraged Anodite lingering in her voice): Why do you have an Omnitrix core? Animo (questioningly at first): An Omnitri--''Grinning:'' Err, that device was what I was going to use to persuade your group to join in my conquest over Ben Tennyson. Spirit: You were going to transform using it?! Animo: No, no! It's the weapon that can be used to destroy that brat! I was going to offer it to one of you, but now I'll gladly take it back. Spirit: No, you will not. That body of yours, and this device, is now Spade property. You, on the other hand, will be public property. Anyone who'd like to break you out of our cell is free to, though they'll have to fight with about twenty or thirty guards of several different species, skill sets, and combat abilities. She tosses Animo to a wall without a care, and then approaches Syvillian and Amber. No more stalling from him. He won't tell us how he survived, then we'll just make off with what information we do have. Shane: Actually, we know how he made it. Spirit: What? How? Shane: Isn't it obvious? That day, where that guy that farmer-dealer was going to meet didn't show, it was the day of the Perfectation. It had to be, and that dealer was going to be coming from our dimension, and since he was here, he got wiped out. But Animo said that not only did he still live after it, but so did that farmer. Anyone from the Null Void must still be alive. Amber: Quite the oversssight by Tennyssson. Shane: Maybe not by him, but the Ascalon. We might know its limits now, and we can gain from that. If the whole of the universe's greatest threats are still in the Null Void-- Syvillian: Correction, some of the universe's greatest threats. They're not the worst; all of them were on Incarcecon lightyears anyway from any other life. Shane: Alright, but still. Some of them are in there; we could use them to stop Ben. Amber: And what reason would they have for helping usss? Shane: I don't know, maybe we let them live up here? Spirit: If you are serious about that, then you are quite the delusional leader. Shane: "Leader?" What? Spirit: I can tell you're leading some sort of squad. You two obviously didn't come down here alone; you brought company in case this mission in here failed. I'm surprised no one else has shown their face. Are there any more actually in the building? Shane: Uhh... Nadine (Nerve): Howler, show yourself! Shane: Nadine! Nadine (Nerve): We're not gonna get any trouble; Spirit's in charge here, and we're cool. Right, Em'? Spirit: Of course... Harry's Voice: Alright, then, I'm coming out. Spirit: That must be, "Howler," right? Harry's Voice: Yeah. Harry becomes visible at the back wall just next to where Animo's tank had been casually thrown by Spirit before. Thanks for blowing it, Nadine. Nadine (Nerve): No problem. Harry (approaching Nadine and Shane): I was being sarcastic. Nadine (Nerve): So was I. Nerve reverts to human as Harry arrives near her. Spirit: I assume you have powers? Harry: Yeah, but that's none of your biz', lady. Nadine: Don't worry, Harry; she's cool. Harry looks nervously toward Shane, who shrugs. Harry: Alright. Hair lines the back of his body, his lips extend forward to create the four-way-openable mouth and nasal area of his face, and a sickly blue color is transitioned onto his face and mane, and gray takes over along the rest of his body. His shirt is majorly torn through but his pants remain practically intact as his upper body begins to illustrate his strength. He grows black claws on his fingers, the count of which is reduced from five to three per hand; the same occurs for his feet. The transformation is completed as a furry tail grows and he takes on hind legs and a stance on all fours. I'm naturally part-Loboan; the Perfectation didn't affect me at all. Spirit: Nice, you're (she dips her head) one of the lucky ones. Amber: Can we get back to what'sss important, Spirit? Spirit: Yes. This Omnitrix core, as Animo said, we can use to stop Ben 10. Let's get rid of that menace, before he does anymore trouble. Syvillian: We can't just launch an attack on him, Spirit. That's the final battle, and you know Diamond, Hart, and Clover are not only going to want to know about, but they're gonna want in. Spirit: Ah, yeah, you're right...Alright, Nadine, what's the name of your team? Nadine: It's not mine, but it's called S.H.A.N.E. It's an acronym or something. Spirit: For what? Nadine: All of our codenames, but really our actual names. Spirit: Oh, so there are two more of you? Had you not been lucky enough to mount this attack on us so easily-- Arabelle's Voice (yelling): It wasn't an attack! Kai and Arabelle are seen racing down a slide formed of ice by the former. They arrive at the bottom of it just in front of Spirit and Nadine. Spirit: And you must be the others. So what was this, if not an attack? Arabelle: Reconnaissance, and maybe making an alliance. We can't do this alone. Spirit: I can see that. That's why we're willing to help. As soon as I speak to my superiors, we can finally end all of this. These last three weeks have been...so painful. Shane, come. Grabs Shane by the arm and begins to walk him away. I'd like for the leader of your team to be the first outsider to meet our "cooperative presidents." Arabelle rushes over to Spirit and grabs her by the arm. Arabelle: Excuse me. Shane: Yeah...I'm not the leader. Spirit: Your team is literally your name, how can you not be the leader? Nadine (yelling): Because he sucks at leading! Spirit: Alright, then, who is the leader? Arabelle: Me. Spirit: And who is "me?" Arabelle: Arabelle Lewis. Shane: Gah, tell your whole life story while you're at it! Why not tell her where our base is! Arabelle: We don't have a base. Nadine (yelling): Also Shane's fault! Shane (yelling): No one asked you, Nerve! Nadine: I've got a name, you know that? Shane: Your parents' fault! Spirit (releasing Shane, who returns to Nadine): Obviously she is doing more than joking. He cannot possibly be the leader; it's like Robin leading a team, you know? Arabelle: I guess. Spirit: If you are the leader, then Arabelle Lewis of S.H.A.N.E., I'm honored to have you join me to be the first to meet our leaders. Arabelle: As am I, to be along. Spirit: Come, I have to set up the meeting. OF EPISODE Category:Episodes Category:Clad in Darkness Chronology